


Wind in the Sails

by SongsofPsyche



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Muteness, Pirates, Rape Aftermath, Treasure Hunting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-10-06 05:04:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10326191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SongsofPsyche/pseuds/SongsofPsyche
Summary: Joshamee Gibbs has seen Captain Jack Sparrow at his best, and at his worst. He knows the Captain inside and out, but after a brutal kidnapping, Jack is not the same anymore and Gibbs struggles to find out why.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing in this fandom! Yahoo!

 

This was not going well. 

Gibbs narrowed his eyes as he stared down at the men in front of him. In one hand he held a large bag of gold, and in the other a ransom note that stated in a messy scribble: 

"If you want to see Captain Jack Sparrow alive again, you will meet me on Isla Palmera at dawn with 400 gold coins. 

Signed, 

Captain D'Claudio" 

 Now there were on that island, Isla Palmera, somewhere near Honduras. Behind him, Gibbs was flanked by the members of his own crew: Angelica and Mr. Cotton. Behind them, pulled out onto the sand so it wouldn’t float away was their long boat. Over to the left was the Pearl, docked in the shallows. Gibbs shielded his face from the sun and tried to focus on what was happening in front of him. The men were dressed in traditional pirate garb; the captain wearing a hat with a large feather, his first mate stood to his left wearing a brown coat and a somewhat smaller hat, four members of his crew stood behind him dressed in a mish mosh of dirty rags that Gibbs could smell where he stood. 

 This particular gang of pirates—The Barstow Crew-- had a nasty reputation, so nasty that they were left alone by the East India Trading Company. Gibbs hated the lot of them. Four days ago Captain Jack Sparrow had come up to him, holding a picture of a seemingly ordinary well called the fontana dei desideri. Gibbs had agreed that searching for it would be worthwhile (a well that granted wishes would be the most useful), but had advised against  it because it happened to be in the territory of _these_ pirates. Of course, the Captain hadn't listened to him. When Jack Sparrow gets something on his mind, he doesn’t let go of it easily. 

Gibbs promised himself that he was never going to deal with these guys again, regardless of whom had what treasure map. It wasn’t worth it. This was not worth it. Next time they would go back to Singapore, or to Nigeria. Anywhere but here. In fact, this was all the captain's  fault to begin with. If he hadn't suggested they go to they go look for the legendary wishing well, none of this would have ever happened. Captain Jack Sparrow wouldn't have gotten kidnapped for ransom by the worst crew of pirates in all the oceans. This time, Jack had gone too far. Way too far. Gibbs kept promising himself that the next time Jack got himself into this kind of trouble, he would honor the code and just leave the wretched man to his fate. Yet here he was, 30 miles out in the middle of nowhere, bargaining with some low life pirate for the life of their captain. _Again_.  

He didn't see the captain anywhere, and that made him suspicious. He had held up his end of the deal-the large sum of gold was stashed safely in the bag he was holding-,but it seemed like this  pirate--what was his name again? Captain D'Claudio-- had not. 

“Where's Captain Jack Sparrow?” Gibbs asked in voice that sounded a lot stronger than he felt. 

D'Claudio just smiled and motioned with his hand. Two of his crew members  backed away towards the small shack that served as their "headquarters". They opened the door, and pulled something—or someone--out. In the bright morning sunlight, it was hard to see what was going on, but Gibbs heard the definite sounds of a struggle. A good sign, if anything it showed that the captain was still alive and strong enough to still fight.  

It had been a very, very confusing couple of days. When Gibbs and the crew had woken up on their ship  two days ago,  no memory of the night before, completely naked and covered in polenta they had had no idea what happened or where they were, or where their clothes went. It was then he had realized, with deep horror that Captain Jack Sparrow was missing. Then they had found the ransom note and realized what deep trouble they were in.  Jack gone over without telling them to negotiate a trade for a map to the wishing well, and apparently the negotiations had not gone well, not well at all. The last thing Gibbs remembered about that night was canisters of white powdered being thrown on the ship, releasing some sort of drug that caused them to lose their memories.  Which just added to the confusion of what exactly happened. A lot of the pieces were missing, and Gibbs hoped to get his captain back soon so they could figure it out.  

 

Captain D'Claudio tipped his cane slightly and gave a subtle bow. Then, in a thick argentine accent, he started speaking;  

“Good Morning to you all Senior Gibbs and friends. I thank you very much for coming at the time we agreed upon. I have your captain here--” and he gestured with his hands.  

Gibbs watched silently as the two pirates  brought Captain Jack Sparrow into the view. To Gibbs, Jack looked horrible. His hands were bound with rope in front of him and he was gagged with a thick black cloth.  The white shirt and tan pants he had been wearing were torn and smudged with dirt, and was that blood? Gibbs couldn't tell in the blinding light if those were bruises or just dirt on his captain' face. _He's been through worse though. He'll be fine._ Gibbs thought to himself, before turning back to the Spanish captain. 

 D'Claudio smiled, “We had a very pleasant time together, but now it is time I returned him to you” he said, then reached for Jack, and he  jerked, no twitched away from his grasp. The pirate paid no attention, gripping Jack's arm tightly before he thrust him a few steps forward “Here's your Captain, now please tell me where’s my gold?” he said, keeping firm grip on Jack's shoulder. 

Gibbs held up the bag, and then tossed it towards him--one of the other pirates caught it. 

“Four hundred gold coins” Gibbs confirmed as he watched the pirate check the bag and give a nod. 

 The pirate nodded, mumbled something in a language that Gibbs did not know and shoved  Jack towards them. Captain Jack  stumbled, then fell to the ground.  Anna Maria—the right hand woman Gibbs had chosen for this job-- lips pursed with worry.  Gibbs shook his head slightly 

"It's fine.  He’ll be fine." Gibbs whispered 

“I greatly appreciate your integrity, gentlemen, but let me tell you; next time you steal from Captain D'Claudio and the Barstow Pirates, I will not be so nice. I am a powerful man on this island and next time your captain will not be so lucky. Do you understand?” Captain D'Claudio  said seriously in his accented English.  

Gibbs  looked up and nodded. “Yes sir, and I apologize for the trouble we have caused you” he said and he gave a small bow. Luca smiled and tipped his head. 

Captain D'Claudio returned the bow, and the taking the bag of gold coins from his first mate, turned around and left them alone. 

They waited until the captain and his men disappeared back into their fortress, then Gibbs walked over to Jack, who hadn't moved from the spot where he’d fallen. 

“Jack?” Gibbs asked, kneeling down next to his captain and tugging at the rope tying his hands together. Jack mumbled something incoherent under the gag, pulled his hands out of Gibbs grasp, then sat up slowly. 

“Aye Captain, it's good to have you back” Gibbs said softly, pulling the black cloth off and putting a hand on Jack's shoulder. Immediately he felt the captain tense, and then he twitched away from his grasp. 

“Jack? It’s me, Gibbs. Can you hear me? Are you alright?” Gibbs asked again, concerned about how Jack was acting. Then he looked at Jack's mouth, his lips were swollen, his beard was caked with blood. And Jack refused to look him in the eye, staring down at the ground. This wasn’t like Jack. Jack never let anything get to him, no matter how terrible or weird or horrible the situation was. Jack always bounced back. 

"What in the name of all the seven seas did they do to you?" Gibbs asked, gently reaching to touch Jack's chin. Jack jerked his head back, and his eyes flashed up to glare at Gibbs. _Don’t you dare touch me._  

Gibbs pulled his hand back, "Sorry. Sorry, Cap." He said 

Jack shuddered slightly, he ducking his head down and hunched his shoulders as if he wanted to fold into himself and disappear. 

Gibbs took out his pocket knife and quickly cut the ropes before Jack could flinch away again. 

“Let’s get you back to the ship.” Gibbs told him, and then grabbed his arm to help him up. Jack shuddered and twitched again right out of Gibb's grasp.  

He paused, still as a statue but  then pushed himself up off the ground, swaying dangerously. 

“Hold on Cap', let us help you.” 

Jack shook his head, and took a step away from Gibbs. He pulled his shoulders back, stood up straighter then started walking towards the longboat. Jack gave Anna Maria a nod of acknowledgment but when she reached out to Jack in a simple gesture of camaraderie, Gibbs once again saw the flinch. 

“It's good to have you back, Captain.” Angelica said softly and Jack froze for a moment, then continued to get into the boat. 

Jack gave Mr. Cotton—who was sitting in the boat, feeding his parrot a peanut--a weird look, and then sat down stiffly, wincing and grabbing his side. 

“It is weird that he hasn’t said a word yet?” Anna Maria whispered quietly in Gibb's ear 

"He's Jack Sparrow, he'll be fine. He always is. Just give him some time." Gibbs replied with a smile. But as Anna Maria turned away, Gibb's smiled faded. Something was different about this time. Something was wrong. He could feel it in the air. 

Gibbs sighed, and then started pushing the little rowboat out to see.  

"Let's just get back to the Pearl." Gibbs said quietly 

And he hoped beyond hope that everything would be okay. 

888 


	2. Chapter 2

The ride over back to the Pearl was silent. Jack shivered in his shirt—he had somehow lost his jacket—and stared out into the water, still refusing to look any of them in the eye, still not saying a word. 

Once they arrived at the Pearl, Gibbs pulled himself up first, using himself as a barricade between the crew and Jack. They had managed to find some clothes—unfortunately for them the only clothes that the Barstow Crew had left were women's dresses--, and the majority of the polenta had been washed away. Jack ignored Gibbs, and the rest of the crew as he climbed up onto the ship and beelined with surprising speed towards the captain's quarters, slamming the door shut behind him. After a few beats door opened again and, Jack's hand shot out holding a rolled up scroll. The hand shook it a couple of times _(here are the coordinates, you yellow bellied lizards!),_ and the nearest crew member—Wayet— jumped up grabbed it. 

"Thank you, sir!" He shouted, saluting. 

And the door slammed shut again _(Now everyone leave me alone)._   

And Gibbs did. He put Anna Maria in charge and left her happily at the helm, shouting orders to the crew. He watched the crew hobble around in the dresses and laughed at the complaining. He went down to the storage rooms and counted the bottles of rum. Twice.  

Until finally it was sunset. Usually at sunset he and the captain would meet. They would sit at Jack's messy desk and debrief the day—how much rum was left, which crew members threatened to throw themselves overboard, if the chicken from the night before still good etc. Usually over  tea that Gibbs would bring up from the kitchen.  It was a quiet time, one that Gibbs enjoyed very much. Jack was always more centered at sunset, the demons that plagued him settling for once, allowing him to be at peace, at least for a little bit. 

Hoping that Jack was rested enough to tell him what happened, Gibbs grabbed their usual tea set (the blue  one, Jack couldn’t stand the pink one), filled it with tea and the left over biscuits from dinner (which Jack did not come to) and headed up towards the captain's quarters. Gibbs hoped that the comfort of the sunset, and their usual teatime routine would calm him some, make him less brittle than he was before on the beach.  

Gibbs knocked on the door twice, expecting the usual "Come in!", but that night there was nothing but silence. Gibbs readjusted the tea platter, and then tried the doorknob. It was unlocked. 

"Jack? It's Gibbs. I thought I would bring you some tea." Gibbs announced, setting into the shadowy room. It took a minute for him to find Jack, who was sitting  by the long window at the back of the room, back leaning against the wall and staring out over the ocean. He had changed out of his dirty clothes into clean ones, leaving the dirty ones in a pile on the floor. 

Jack made no notion that he had heard Gibbs come in. Gibbs walked over to the desk, and put the tray down, the teacups rattled slightly and Jack started, looking over at Gibbs. 

"'Ello Cap." Gibbs said softly, not wanting to scare him further. 

"I brought some tea, in the blue set." Gibbs continued. 

Jack stayed perfectly still, reminding Gibbs of a spooked cat stuck in a corner. 

"These past few days have been interesting. We are very glad to have you back with us." Gibbs said 

"The crew is sure a sight to see right now, all in ladies dresses." He added with a chuckle. 

Jack remained frozen. 

Then Gibbs noticed the bloodied rag in Jack's hand. 

"Are you hurt?" He asked 

Jack shook his head, but then winced putting the rag up to his mouth. 

"Aye if you weren't hurt, you wouldn’t be wincing like that. May I see?" Gibbs asked 

Jack shrugged his shoulders, and winced again. Gibbs took a step forward, raising a hand. Jack flinched away from him, pushing himself further against the wall. 

Gibbs slowly lowered his hand. 

"Let me see, please Jack?" Gibbs asked gently.  

Jack froze, his hands curling into fists. He seemed to be holding his breath. Gibbs waited patiently though, wanting to see what was ailing Jack, but also not wanting to scare him further. 

"I'm not going to hurt you." Gibbs added. 

Jack nodded, and then slowly opened his mouth. 

Making sure his hands were by his side, but still in Jack's view, Gibbs leaned in closer to get a look at jack's mouth. And it took everything that he had not to gasp in horror; Jack's tongue was gone.....no...not gone, but mauled. Cut just enough to render him mute. All of a sudden, Jack's silence made sense. He was unable to speak, because those bastards had cut his tongue. 

Gibbs closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. When he was sure he could control his emotions, he opened his eyes and looked up at Jack. 

"A little molly herb can clean that right up, it'll help with the pain, too." He said gently. 

Jack averted his eyes, but nodded. 

"Did they hurt you anywhere else?" Gibbs asked  

Jack shrugged, and winced again. 

"Ribs?" Gibbs asked, seeing the signs. 

Jack nodded. 

"There's not much you can do with those until they heal by themselves. Staying off your feet for a few days will help." 

Jack nodded again. 

"Anything else?" 

Jack shook his head. 

"Alright. I'm going to get those herbs for you." Gibbs said, and then he stood up straighter. Jack turned away from him, looking out over the darkening sky. 

Gibbs turned the lanterns on quietly, and then left the room to go find bag that they kept all their medical herbs and remedies in. 

The molly herb had been given to Gibbs by a witch that he had met in Tortuga. He thought it must have some magical properties to it, because it healed skin almost instantly. If one mashed it up and  put it on a bleeding cut, for instance, the cut would heal almost completely in an hour, leaving on the trace of a scar. It was a very useful herb to have, especially out at sea where a doctor was days away. 

Gibbs had used it before, once when he had been in a brawl fight and bit the inside of his cheek so badly he felt a chunk of it come off. He had simply sucked on the molly herb, and it had worked it's magic.  He hoped that it would work for Jack too.  The only thing was that it had tasted terrible, but Jack wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.  

Gibbs mixed the herb into a thick black paste, then walked back over to the Captain's quarters. 

Jack was sitting exactly where he had been before, still staring out into the darkening horizon. Gibbs lit a few candles, and then brought the bowl over to Jack. 

"Here, put a spoonful of this in your mouth and swish around for a bit." Gibbs instructed. Jack gave him an incredulous look. _What the hell is that supposed to be?_  

"It works, I promise." Gibbs said, giving Jack a small smile. 

Jack nodded, and then took the bowl from Gibbs. As he did, his sleeve rolled up, revealing angry rope burns and several red cuts. 

Once again, Gibbs fought to control his anger. When you kidnap someone for ransom, you weren't supposed to hurt them. It was part of the pirates code. 

"A little on those burns and cuts too, should help." Gibbs said nodding his head towards jack's arms.  

Jack did as instructed, making careful calculated movements as not to upset the broken ribs.  Once he was done, and after he had spat back out the molly herb he seemed a bit calmer, more relaxed than before now that the pain was gone. 

"Better? Gibbs asked 

Jack nodded. 

"That's good. Now, let's get you to bed. A good night sleep will help." 

Jack froze again, but then after several moments he nodded his head and slowly stood up.  Gibbs waited patiently for him to walk over to him, noticing the slight limp. 

"Are you sure you aren't hurt anywhere else?" He asked 

Jack shook his head and sent him a glare. _Yes I am sure. Stop asking me._  

"Okay, okay. Just wanted to make sure, that's all." 

Gibbs watched from a distance as Jack laid down on his bed. 

"I'll be nearby, if you need anything. Just yell---er---knock. I'll know." Gibbs said quiet.  

Jack nodded his head again, and then blew out candle, casting the room into darkness. 

888 

**Author's Note:**

> I am on tumblr, under the same name. Follow me for updates and general amusement!


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